The US decided to open a consulate in Western Sahara. This was announced by the country’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in his Twitter .
“I am happy to announce that we have begun the process of establishing a consulate in the region, right now we are opening a virtual presence post for Western Sahara, whose activities will focus on promoting economic and social development,” Pompeo wrote. He added that Washington will soon open a fully functioning consulate there.
Thus, State Department acts in accordance with the December decree of the American President Donald Trump , according to which the United States recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, a disputed territory bordering Algeria and Mauritania. At the same time, in fact, Washington is acting bypassing UN , which considers Western Sahara not owned by anyone and the territory that has realized the right to self-determination.
Western Sahara has been seeking independence since the mid-1970s. Since 2007, the Moroccan authorities and the local military-political organization Front Polisario, which proclaimed the Sahara Arab Democratic Republic with the support of Algeria, have negotiated four times over the status of the region. They all ended in vain.
Morocco considers this territory its integral part and does not allow its independence. The official authorities agree only to granting it broad autonomy within the kingdom.